DID CITY POLICE OFFICERS COMMIT PERJURY?

Justice Officials May Seek Outside Advice

AN internal investigation into an allegation two police officers
committed perjury in a drug case that later collapsed is now in the
hands of provincial justice officials, police confirmed Thursday.

But it's anyone's guess when Manitoba Justice will decide on possible
charges, sources said.

That's because the file, prepared by the Winnipeg Police Service's
professional standards unit, will likely go to an out-of-province
Crown attorney for an independent review to remove any appearance of
conflict of interest.

The internal investigation started late last year when the Crown
stayed drug trafficking charges against two men after questions were
raised during a preliminary hearing over the validity of a police
search warrant.

Const. Peter O'Kane and his partner Const. Jess Zebrun, the stepson of
Chief Jack Ewatski, are alleged to have lied under oath as to how they
obtained the search warrant, which was used to enter a room at the
Fairmont Hotel and seize approximately two pounds of cocaine and
$30,000 cash.

The Crown has offered no explanation for dropping the case. However,
Crown attorney Michael Foote expressed concerns during a February 2006
preliminary hearing that police "have not been forthcoming" with their
disclosure of information about the search warrant.

Had the case gone to trial, defence lawyers Evan Roitenberg and Darren
Sawchuk planned to attack the conduct of O'Kane and Zebrun and the
information they used to get the warrant signed by a magistrate.

Even if the warrant was found to be valid at trial, Roitenberg and
Sawchuk also planned to argue that the two officers "may have
illegally entered a hotel room where the drugs were located prior to
the warrant being obtained."

When they testified at the preliminary hearing, O'Kane and Zebrun
claimed their suspicions about the hotel room weren't based on an
illegal sneak-and-peek but rather on the information of a mysterious
informant.

The pair told a judge they never entered Room 1707 at the Fairmont
Hotel until after they had obtained a search warrant, which they based
on a tip from the unknown source.

The pair also gave different accounts in court of when they first went
to the hotel the day the arrests in July 2005.

O'Kane and Zebrun told court how the drug investigation began with a
routine call about a disturbance. They found a drunk and disorderly
Scott Guiboche and took him to the Main Street Project under the
Intoxicated Persons Detention Act. The case changed focus when a
routine pat-down search uncovered nine rocks of crack cocaine, court
was told.

The officers also found a swipe card for a room at the Fairmont
Hotel.

The story took a twist, O'Kane testified, when an anonymous phone call
came into the police station just as they were processing Guiboche.

"He said he (Guiboche) had a room, 1707 at the Fairmont, which was a
reloading station. He said he has lots of cash and crack in there,"
O'Kane said.

O'Kane also told court he and Zebrun then went to the Fairmont, spoke
with the night manager and confirmed Room 1707 was being rented out by
a man named Danny George. He said they called for some additional
officers to watch the exterior of the room while they returned to the
PSB to fill out an application for a warrant.

Zebrun told a different story. He testified he and O'Kane went to the
Fairmont for the first time only after they had already obtained the
warrant.

In their information to obtain a search warrant, O'Kane and Zebrun
swore before a magistrate they had "conducted police investigative
techniques" to verify that the informant's information about the hotel
suite was accurate.